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Each store will be able to set its own criteria for identifying a high-priority event. Once a defined event occurs, an alarm will be routed through the corporate server, which will send a text message to one or more mobile phones. Recipients will then be able to request that up to 10 seconds of video immediately be sent for display on the cell phoneâ€™s color LCD screen.
ADT Previews Cell Phone Video Notification Service
ADT Security Services Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., a unit of Tyco Fire & Security, recently showcased an emerging technology that will turn a cell phone into a platform for receiving near real-time notification of data exceptions including visual verification with digital CCTV. With this new service, called Mobile Alerts, appropriate store or regional management will be able to quickly address critical security and operational exceptions from virtually anywhere. ADT expects to make the Mobile Alerts service commercially available in late 2004.


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) July 14, 2015 Honda Civic Type R That Can Reach Speeds Upto 168mph 0 The new 2015 Honda Civic Type R was first released during the 2014 Geneva Motor Show solely as a concept car, but now Honda is now announced that they going to release a production version of the new Civic Type R. Metro Bus Service Changes for June 2011 Blog Article in LA Streetsblog by Damien Newton, February 1, 2011. July 29, 2015 by Eileen Brown in Windows 10A closer look at Office 2016 for the MacHere's a quick tour of the official Office 2016 release for the Mac, now available to Office 365 subscribers.
Established in 2011, the awards are an independently judged annual national scheme open to historic houses, gardens, museums and heritage sites. It is hardly surprising that, equipped with an inferior squad, he set his stall out to make them difficult to beat up against the likes of Chelsea, the Manchester clubs and Arsenal. Revealed: The calorie 'blind spot' millions of us have Woman with breast cancer throws 'head shaving party' to.
Started by: Tank Girl Forum: A levels Replies: 9 Last post: 2 minutes ago TSR Desi Music Society Started by: asif007 Forum: Music Replies: 2709 Last post: 2 minutes ago Why is everyone outraged over this woman beheading a child, when. Asia & Middle East Destinations Middle East & Asia cruises The Orient has been the goal of travellers for millennia, a place of legends with magical sights and cultures. Anyhow, assuming you have a paid up Apple Developer account, you've got a number of options to create content based apps: Handcode using Xcode but this is not for the faint hearted.

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Figures for last year show that almost a billion euros were invested in the sector – more than double the amount for 2009.
The growth of internet trade and an increased demand for pulp and board is helping to fuel the recovery, with Finland’s largest forestry companies recently announcing investments linked to packaging materials.
Investment in Finland’s forestry sector is returning to levels last seen before the financial crisis, new figures show. Last year investment reached almost a billion euros, which is more than double the amount for 2009.
Investments have also seen strong growth in the first quarter of 2014, and look set to continue, with forestry companies Metsä Group, Stora Enso and UPM all recently announcing new investments worth hundreds of millions of euros each. Last month Metsä Group unveiled plans for a 1.1 billion euro pulp mill in Ääneskoski, central Finland.
The new figures also reveal that the size of the forestry industry as a share of Finland’s total exports is now growing again. In 2008, forestry made up only 17.6 percent of all Finland’s exports – a sharp fall from the 1970s, when it accounted for more than 50 percent. Recent years have seen the figure begin to rise again, to 20 percent.
Figures come as a relief
Forestry industry chief executive Timo Jaatinen told Yle that today’s figures come as a welcome relief after recent years of stagnation within the sector. ”Our investments have traditionally been in the order of a billion euros, though in the last few years it’s been well below that. These new investments are especially important for stabilising the outlook in Finland.”
The growth of internet trade, and an increased demand for pulp and board have helped fuel the industry’s recovery. In recent years the sector’s focus has developed, shifting to biofuels and oil production, among others. And the large recent investments have all in one way or another been linked to packaging materials.
Paper giant Stora Enso, for instance, recently announced that it will convert its Varkaus fine paper plant into a containerboard production facility.
Canada: Troublesome beetles spotted close to Canada’s Yukon border, CBC News
Finland: Insect wrecks havoc on Finnish spruce trees; global warming to blame?, Yle News
Sweden: Successful attempt to run trucks on biofuel in Sweden’s North, Radio Sweden
United States: White spruce may thrive as temperatures warm across subarctic Alaska, Alaska Dispatch


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Coupons and reductions can’t be applied to reward card purchases. If completely different merchandise is included in your order, the coupon value will apply solely to those objects. If this electronic mail was forwarded to you and likewise you need to subscribe to future Coach Outlet emails, click on on proper right here.
It’s not clear how BP can credibly claim it didn’t foresee methane escape as a doable draw back. In case you look at the Halliburton presentation it clearly explains that the Gulf of Mexico is thought to have deposits of crystallized methane trapped within the ocean floor in deep water. The presentation also explains that when warmth generated by the cement curing course of thaws the encompassing ocean flooring beneath the cold deep water, it releases the trapped gasoline.
However present nationwide coverage is to do whatever is essential – drilling deep below the Gulf and launching our military overseas – to protected oil. Wildlife and environmental teams accused BP of holding once more info on the real measurement and influence of the rising slick, and urged Obama to order a more direct federal authorities function throughout the spill response.
I purchased 5 clutches during a sale final weekend.
Retailer larger than eighty nationwide mannequin identify retailers, retail stores and eating places at Settlers Green, Settlers Crossing and Settlers Nook. Disturbing evidence is mounting that something scary is going on deep beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico-one factor far worse than theBP oil gusher. Warnings have been raised so long as a yr before the Deepwater Horizondisaster that the realm of seabed chosen by the BP geologists is likely to be unstable, or worse, inherently harmful. What makes the state of affairs that Transocean selected doubtlessly far riskier than completely different potential oil deposits located at other regions of the Gulf? It may be summed up with two words: methane gasoline.
However the retailers and competitors aside, these which are bullish on Coach nonetheless think about the brand has loads of development potential. Coach has added classes past its bread-and-butter handbags and tools and has expanded in online gross sales, men’s collections and overseas.
It can be summed up with two words: methane gasoline.
The White House is formally stating that it doesn’t know the place the officially reported 10 miles prolonged by three miles intensive “plume” is actually positioned or in what path it’s heading. Nevertheless, WMR’s sources declare the White House is getting real-time reports from Navy submarines as to the blob’s location. We now have discovered that the blob is transiting the Florida Straits between Florida and Cuba, propelled by the Gulf’s Loop Current, and that parts of it that’s encountering hotter waters are breaking off into smaller tar balls which might be actually washing ashore within the environmentally-sensitive Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas.
The Coach Outlet showcases collections from some of the effectively-recognized American producers of luxurious purses and lifestyle gear – Coach is a brand of iconic standing that was born over 70 years prior to now in a loft in New York Metropolis. The designers drew inspiration for his or her baggage from the ground of a effectively-worn baseball glove. Amongst different issues, the mannequin owes its recognition to the distinctive combination of top of the range craftsmanship, modern design and premium supplies, from skilfully processed leather-based to pick out materials. Style aware ladies the world over love their Coach purses, including effectively-known American actresses akin to Eva Longoria, January Jones and Rachel Bilson.
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Dubious corporate tactics that were once considered arcane business shenanigans are now consumed and broadcast on social networks as widely as the latest celebrity scandal.
The public’s sudden interest in corporate mischief is driven by a confluence of emergent populism, growing mistrust of institutions and the bully pulpit of social media messaging. People who were indifferent or oblivious in the past now take notice.
Behaviors that smack of irresponsibility or hubris—like the unimaginably rich CEO of a ride-sharing company who recently belittled an employee in a video that went viral—can have immediate and far-reaching negative consequences.
“Business news is no longer just business news,” says Edgar Baum, CEO of the brand measurement firm Strata Insights. “If CEOs are perceived as doing something fishy, the public knows about it immediately, even if the underlying business details are beyond comprehension. The problem is one of hyperbole, sensationalism and speed.”
“If CEOs are perceived as doing something fishy, the public knows about it immediately, even if the underlying business details are beyond comprehension. The problem is one of hyperbole, sensationalism and speed.”
“Fishy” is not necessarily illegal. Much of the public has raised the bar when it comes to the standards to which they expect both CEOs and the companies they lead to adhere. Small wonder at a time when a whopping 63% of the population does not trust CEOs, according to Edelman’s 2017 “Trust Barometer” survey. Do something with a whiff of impropriety, and people become hashtag activists, instantly expressing their protests or echoing others’ complaints across large swaths of the global population. This information then finds its way into apps like DoneGood, aVOID, Glia and BuyPartisan, which were created to steer
consumers away from “objectionable” companies.
How bad is it for companies portrayed as sinners? “The forest of rhetoric is so thick right now that corporate actions that are not illegal, but appear to be deceptive or unfair, can ignite a brushfire that’s not easy to put out,” says Hampton Bridwell, CEO and managing partner at brand and marketing consultancy Tenet Partners.
In addition to personal and corporate risk, bad behavior is undoubtedly tarnishing the overall reputation of capitalism: a 2016 Harvard survey showed that 51% of millennials do not support capitalism, while just 42% said they support it.
We’ve compiled five corporate “sins” that CEOs should do their best to avoid committing—not because they’re illicit per se, but because the short-term gain may not be worth the long-term pain.
1. Dual Shares, Double Trouble
Dual-class shares are a great way for a visionary founder of a company with voting rights to guide its long-term strategy, without the quarterly short-termism views that more ordinary shareholders might exact. But the structure, which on average calls for giving 10 votes to insiders versus one vote to public shareholders, has its share of detractors.
“Some CEOs think they know better than anyone else what is best for the business, but this is a very shortsighted view,” says Thomas Quinlan, chairman and CEO of LSC Communications, a global provider of digital and traditional print-related services and office products. “A poorly performing CEO should not be immune
to disciplinary actions that may even include the person’s ouster.”


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Burger chain Checkers & Rally’s announced via press release a delivery program this week that enables delivery from multiple third parties and is also, according to a company press release, “franchise-friendly.”
To service multiple third-party delivery partners at once, and perhaps also to avoid putting franchises through the kind of franchise McSaga McDonald’s currently finds itself in, Checkers & Rally’s have integrated delivery from five major players into a single point-of-sales system. Customers can order from Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub, and Amazon Restaurants, and that order will appear as any other ticket item in the system.
Enabling third-party delivery with multiple partners can and does often create operational issues for restaurants. There’s the pileup of hardware devices that come with using multiple services, often referred to nowadays as “tablet hell.” Plus, multiple new ticket streams from these third-party providers means someone has to key in the different orders from different devices, which would slow even the most well-oiled machine down while simultaneously raising the potential for error.
Checkers & Rally’s sought to avoid these pains by enlisting digital ordering platform Olo, who raised $18 million earlier this year from Tiger Global Investment. For the Checkers & Rally’s partnership, Olo helped implement a system that funnels all orders from third-party services into one channel that goes directly into the main POS system. While this approach isn’t exactly new — Chowly and OrderOut both provide this type of integration — Olo’s platform is specifically designed for larger chains (Checkers & Rally’s has around 900 restaurants currently).
The program also offers a benefit to franchisees in the form of a single point of contact for business. Everything from contract negotiations with the third-party services to tech support to training is addressed through the same contact. I’ve spoken with enough restaurant operators in the last year to know that getting support from third-party delivery services can make a call to the IRS seem fun.
Rick Silva, President and CEO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, said in a press release that the company wants “to provide our franchisee community with a fully integrated platform that would make it easy and profitable to fulfill delivery orders.”
That’s an important point: delivery is more or less a mandatory part of business nowadays, but the economics of working with third party services don’t always make sense for franchises. Paul Flanders, CFO of Burger King franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group, recently noted that “The economics [of third-party delivery] are probably marginal for the [franchisee] operator.” Meanwhile, the aforementioned McSaga has McDonald’s franchisees questioning some of corporate’s decisions around the exclusive partnership McDonald’s has with Uber Eats, arguing for a better commission split with third parties, and, in some cases, the ability to work with more services than just Uber Eats. A post by the National Owners Association, a McDonald’s franchisee group started late last year, stated that, when it comes to the many changes franchisees have to face, “simplification needs to be priority one.”
Simplification appears to be what Checkers & Rally’s is after with its newly launched delivery program. Of course, making it easier to take multiple orders from multiple services is only one element of doing cost-effective, operationally efficient delivery. But Checkers & Rally’s appears to be making franchisees an integral part of the process when making decisions about delivery, rather than an afterthought you throw technology at.
The numbers will tell how effective this strategy is, and we’ll have to wait for those until the next round of earnings calls. In the meantime, the new program will serve both delivery and pickup orders.


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|Photo courtesy by Google Images.|
Hewlett-Packard, the OEM had just confronted an issue last month after a tech blogger by the name of Adam Howard had reported that there are more than 86,000 network printers that can be hacked through using the Google Search Engine and that most of these printers are under the brand name HP. Unfortunately, this issue seems not to be the end regarding the vulnerability of their printers' security, CRN, an international news website, reported on March 11 that "Hewlett-Packard issued a critical security update for certain LaserJet Pro printers, following the discovery of a serious vulnerability that could give remote attackers access to sensitive data."
The said issue concerned the "telnet debug shell flaw" which according to the report "affects 10 of HP’s LaserJet Pro machines, including the: P1102w; P1606dn; M1212nf; M1213nf; M1214nfh; M1216nfh; M1217nfw; M1218nfs; M1219nf; and the CP1025nw."
"The printers had a telnet port open which I did not expect to be open," said Christoph von Wittich, a German security expert credited for detecting the said flaw. Wittich had claimed that he detected the said error while doing a routine network scan of his company's corporate network. "I tried to connect to the port with a telnet client and I got a debug shell which allows you to disable SSL communication to the HP ePrint Cloud servers and shows the passwords for the HP Cloud server connection in plain text."
"As long as the printer is not connected to the Internet, this vulnerability should not cause much trouble for the end user," he concluded.
To solve this issue, the OEM company offered an updated firmware that users can easily download by going to the HP Support Site and clicking on the Drivers & Software Page, and then searching for the appropriate printer model number.
Sources: HP Printer Flaw Enables Remote Attacks, Data Access by Robert Westervelt, CRN.com
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Foxxr’s recent interview with Bright Local on Winning New Customers was recently featured on Search Engine Land.
Back in January, Sophie Kemp of Bright Local reached out to Foxxr and a few other SEO agencies for feedback on our relationship life-cycle with our prospects and clients.
In this interview, we shared our strategies at Foxxr on winning new customers, the steps we take once we engage potential customers, follow-up actions and sales cycles.
Recently, Myles Anderson, Founder of Bright Local and contributor to Search Engine Land, posted an article highlighting these agency interviews. In this article, Myles talks about the intense competition within the SEO industry and shares some proven ways to attract new customers. It’s not a surprise that #1 on the list for attracting new customers is Local Workshops/Events. With sales and marketing strategies shifting to a “give value first” environment, workshops are a part of our business plan that provide value to the community and help us stay on top of the latest industry changes.
Have a glance at this article and read what Foxxr and other agencies are doing to stay on track and ensure their customers are getting the best there is to offer. Please comment with your opinion or best practices.


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Written by Staff Writer
18 Jan, 2018 | 10:14 am
Apple will pay about $38bn (£27.3bn) in tax on the roughly $250bn cash pile it holds outside the US following recent changes to American tax rules.
The sum is expected to be the biggest payment under the reforms, which slash the US corporate tax rate.
The tech giant also plans to build a new campus and create 20,000 new jobs in the US.
Apple said its plans would contribute more than $350bn to the US economy over the next five years.
The company has not said how much of its cash abroad would be brought back to the US.
Chief executive Tim Cook said Apple is “focusing our investments in areas where we can have a direct impact on job creation”.
Apple employs about 84,000 people in the US and expects to spend $55bn with domestic suppliers and manufacturers this year.
The company has data centres in seven states. On Wednesday, it broke ground on an expansion of its operations in Reno, Nevada.
It plans to spend more than $10bn on data centres over five years, as part of a $30bn capital spending plan for the US.
The location of Apple’s new campus, which will house technical support staff, will be announced later in 2018.
Apple had earlier said it planned $16bn in capital expenditures in 2018, up from about $15bn in the prior year.
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If Africa is rising, Asia is rising even more. The cost of production in China and other Asian nations is steadily increasing due to increased wages and more stringent standards in the labor industry. The rising cost of production is incentivising factory owners to search for cheap, low-skilled labor elsewhere - mainly in Southeast Asian nations, such as Vietnam and Cambodia - but also now in East Africa.
There are many advantages for businesses wanting to develop the garment industries in East Africa - the low costs of labor being foremost. Ethiopia has no minimum wage for their garment industry, and the monthly wage of most workers is a fraction of the wages of East Asian laborers; an Ethiopian worker starts at an average of $21 a month, while a Bangladeshi worker will be making an average of $67. In addition, Ethiopia along with other East African nations has a huge population of young, trainable workers that lack the social mobility and opportunities that their Asian counterparts are slowly gaining, creating big labor force potential in the region.
Furthermore, East Africa has inherent benefits that make it well suited for textile development. They can produce their own cotton, which cuts down on transport costs for companies. The cost of leasing land and using electricity is low as the Ethiopian government pursues policies to incentivize international industrialization and investment; Ethiopia offers electricity at $0.05 per kilowatt hour, compared with Kenya’s rate of $0.24. Finally, unlike Asian nations, manufacturers benefit significantly from the Free Trade Agreements that the United States has with many African countries, including the agreement with the Common Market For Eastern And Southern Africa.
There have been positive discussions on the benefits and strengths of Ethiopia’s nascent garment industries. Ethiopia’s government and people, however, still have to battle the stigmas and preconceptions of Western-based industries on the reality of African life, and balance those stereotypes against the very real limits of poor infrastructure and pervasive corruption. The recent opening of two new garment factories in Ethiopia, valued at $2.5 million, on top of the thirty-seven new manufacturers that have joined the industry in the past five years will help attract continued development and industrialization in Ethiopia’s garment and textile sectors. To that end, the Ethiopian government has committed to funding infrastructure at a rate of two-thirds of its GDP each year, hoping to dramatically expand its roads and railways.
The development of Ethiopia's garment industry and the rhetoric surrounding the push for greater international investment has several notable benefits for the Ethiopian people as well. They have benefited from their government’s commitment to greater infrastructure development, as well as the development completed by international corporations. They also benefit from the higher employment rates and export earnings. The employment rates of the industry doubled to 11,716 from 2010 to 2011, meanwhile Ethiopia’s textile and apparel export earnings rose from $12.6 million to $111 million in the same time frame, according to the African news site Caperi.
Many have celebrated this shift as a new dawn for African economies- a signal of development, and a step in the direction of the model of Japan and China; moving from cheap and unskilled labor production to high-end technology production and strong economies. Although superficially positive, this is not as easy comparison to make as it might seem.
Historically, African nations has suffered from the “resource curse” - a paradox where countries rich in natural and population resources often fail to see those resources translated in to economic growth and development. Although generally used in reference to oil and energy resources, the root problems are the same - the poor administration of natural resources and failure to develop sustainably, combined with lack of good governance and corruption endemic in many African nations creates a vastly different environment than the environment of Japan or China. For those reasons, these corporations should not be touted for moving to Ethiopia or other East African nations as they take advantage of the cheap costs of labor and production. In order to truly foster regional development and improve the quality of life for workers, we need to be candid about the root cause of present conditions in East Africa.
The development of the East African garment industry is not a victory for international free markets and globalization. Rather, it perpetuates a model wherein poor, underdeveloped nations desperate for investments create welcome environments for corporations to exploit people and resources with little accountability. Despite the benefits this system brings to both parties it fails to recognize that the relationship is an extension of a perpetual system of exploitation and underdevelopment. The reason a corporation can pay an Ethiopian garment worker roughly $0.09 an hour is in part because of a post-imperialism economic and political dependency model that Western governments and countries have preserved and profited from.BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS


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Asus plans to begin selling the cheaper alternative to its Transformer Prime tablet on April 22nd.
The official price hasn’t been announced yet, but a handful of retailers are already showing prices starting at $379. The Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF200T, on the other hand, starts at $499.
At first glance, the two tablets have a lot in common. They both feature 10.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel displays, NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processors, and Android 4.0 software. Asus also offers optional keyboard docking stations for each.
But there are reasons the new model will be cheaper. It’s expected to have a 1.2 GHz processor instead of a 1.3 GHz chip, a smaller battery, a slightly thicker and heavier case, and no LED flash for the camera.
The TF300T also has an IPS display instead of the Super IPS screen on the more expensive model, and Asus will offer the new tablet with 16GB or 32GB of storage. The Transformer Prime comes in 32GB or 64GB varieties.


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Sport Chalet reported a quarterly profit Wednesday, beating Wall Street estimates with higher sales both in stores and online.
The La Canada-based retailer, which has 54 stores in four western states, reported earnings for the second quarter of $600,000 or 4 cents a share, compared to a loss of $500,000 or 4 cents a share for the same quarter last year. Wall Street analysts expected earnings of 2 cents per share, according to Bloomberg.
The company also said same-store sales increased 3.1 percent and online sales increased 18 percent during the quarter.
“Our data suggests our online business is helping drive customers into our stores while establishing a national footprint online,” Chief Executive Craig Levra said in a statement.
Sport Chalet announced its results after the close of the stock markets on Wednesday. For the day, the company’s stock price declined 15 cents or 6 percent to close at $2.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.


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Screen icon Nicole Kidman provides the face and narrative for the airline's evocative brand campaign conceptualized by M&C Saatchi Australia... ...http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2015/03/etihad-airways-unveils-new-global-brand-campaign-flying-reimagined/
By By | Reuters 11 minutes ago NEW YORK (Reuters) - Records look set to tumble at the big spring art auctions with Christie's' announcement on... ...https://in.news.yahoo.com/christies-aims-auction-record-book-140-million-picasso-165730024.html
From the Wires Mar. 25, 2015 12:43 PM NEW YORK , March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- New York Residence, Inc., in conjunction with... ...http://in.sys-con.com/node/3316420
New Delhi: Luxury automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz launched on Wednesday two of its specialty cars -- the new CLS-Class Coupé and the E-Class... ...http://www.indianewsblast.com/2015/03/luxury-automobile-manufacturer-mercedes.html
In China, few activities escape the watchful eye of the state — and soon, that will include square dancing. Ever-growing numbers of... ...http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/dance-dance-dance/article7029199.ece
A complete range of aluminium or...


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This piece at TechCrunch is one of those behind-the-scenes stories that’s just a good read — it likely won’t result in anything you’ll ever be able to identify in a product, but it gives you a sense of just how high the stakes are in the technology world right now, and just how significant a role Apple plays. And no, it’s not just an Apple versus Google situation — Apple was actually backing a consortium that also included RIM, EMC, Ericsson, Sony, and Microsoft, while Google ended up teaming with Intel. Can’t keep track of the players without a scorecard these days. follow link
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How Apple Beat Out Google for Nortel’s Patents


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LG has now confirmed that the latest Android wear device would be launched in its home country on 14October at a price of KRW 352,000, which … Read the rest
US-based tech giant Apple is likely to shut down its Beats Music, which is a streaming service acquired by the company four months ago as part of a blockbuster Beats acquisition. However, there is no official information available as of now about when the company is going to shut the … Read the rest
US-based tech giant Apple is planning to make its upcoming flagship smartphone iPhone 6 a mobile wallet. This will enable its users to make secure payments via mobile bu just pressing a finger. This information has been released by Bloomberg citing a person familiar with the matter.
WhatsApp CEO and Founder Jan Koum has recently tweeted that WhatsApp active users count reached a milestone figure of 600 million users a month. Koum tweeted, “Now serving 600,000,000 monthly active users. Yes, active and registered are very different types of numbers.”
The mobile messaging app was developed 5 years … Read the rest
According to a report by The Verge, US-based tech giant Microsoft is likely to showcase its latest Windows operating system, possibly the Windows 9, during an event scheduled to take place on September 30, 2014. The event is likely to reveal several upgrades to the user interface as well as … Read the rest
Countering a recent research by independent consulting firm CounterPoint Research, Samsung’s president and chief executive for South-West Asia, BD Park has told The Economic Times that the company still dominates the Indian market with a market share of nearly 50%. He also said that the company has double the market … Read the rest


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There seem to be a lot of shortages right now – shortage of work, shortage of workers, shortage of new cars in car lots, and even a shortage of coins.
Derek Moore with First Bank of Wyoming says the holdup is at the federal level.
“There’s limitations on what banks can actually order in terms of coin,” Moore said, adding that in his years in banking, he’s never come across this situation before.
Garrett Growney with Pinnacle Bank explained that the problem has been brought on by the slowdown in the economy.
“With the shortage of general commerce out there, a lot of coin has not made it back into the Federal Reserve system,” he says.
But Pinnacle Bank got creative. In order to assure an adequate supply for local businesses, it launched a contest to get people to bring in change that they may have been gathering at home – and the chance to win a $50 Visa gift card as the prize.
“There’s a demand for coin,” Growney said. “You’ll see some businesses around town not taking coin transactions. So we saw that coming and have run a promotion so that we could have coin, so that our customers can access it.”
According to the Federal Reserve’s website, the entity is working with the U.S. Mint and others in the industry on solutions, but the agency said that since mid-June, the Mint has been operating at full production capacity and is on track to mint 1.65 billion coins per month for the remainder of the year.
Growney says he doesn’t believe the change shortage is an indication that the government is moving to a “cashless society” as alleged by some conspiracy theorists.
“I know there are some conspiracy theories out there,” he said. “But my thought would be that this would be a very cumbersome way to go about it.”
And he pointed out that there’s still plenty of change circulating.“It’s still getting used,” he said, speaking of coins. “I’m not aware of any effort to do away with it.”


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The realm of digital identity management is experiencing a transformation, and World App is at the forefront with its newly unveiled Passport UI and the enhanced World ID 2.0 integrations. The revamped interface of World ID is akin to a digital passport, meticulously designed to assist users in documenting and managing their digital identities with greater efficiency and security. The update entails a notable launch of World ID Apps via the Worldcoin App Store, heralding a new era of online account verification.
To explore these advancements firsthand, follow these simplified steps:
- Update your World App to the latest version to gain access to the new Passport UI.
- Visit the Worldcoin App Store and navigate to World ID Apps to discover the new integrations.
- Through the app store, link your World ID with supported web3-friendly platforms such as Telegram, Reddit, and Discord for a seamless verification process.
- In case you face any issues with bots on Discord or Telegram, stay tuned for upcoming patches and improvements addressing these early teething troubles.
- Verify your membership to claim exclusive merchandise and mint a commemorative NFT on Zora, celebrating the release of World ID 2.0.
World App, at its core, is dedicated to creating a universal, secure digital identity platform. With the release of World ID 2.0, it advances its mission by providing users with a comprehensive way to manage their online presence while also offering exciting opportunities through its app store integrations. Whether it's enhancing security on web3 platforms or fostering community engagement through digital collectables, World App is shaping the future of digital identity one update at a time.
For further details and insights regarding this update, refer to the official Worldcoin blog post on the announcement of World ID 2.0.


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Parallels Summit 2012: Q&A, Birger Steen
We spoke to the CEO of Parallels about how his vision for the company is panning out and what he still wants to achieve.
It happened on all sides of the business. In the APS ecosystem we started [thinking more/planning] about who we recruited. We also find that there are many examples of apps that show up for certification that we didn't even know about that were being packaged and visible brand name apps too. The whole concept of building an ecosystem is you get some sort of flywheel effect when the network takes on a life of its own. I think we've really crossed the chasm from last year to this year in those terms. There's a lot more self-driven development in the business.
We've been very clear over the last two years that our focus is on the SMB and user universe, served through service providers. The core audience of service providers we want to stay in touch with and serve are what used to be called hosters but are now called cloud service providers. The reason for that is we think the best hosters are actually among the best businesses in the world in serving SMBs. They're in many cases surprisingly efficient in production, even compared with some of the largest datacentres on the planet. You'll find some very interesting things happening in some of the best hosters' datacentres.
There's a real core skill the best of them have developed because the market has been so incredibly competitive over the last 10 years with low barriers to entry and it being hard to acquire customers. Most of them have got super good at go to market, selling and upselling, forseeing customer needs, adding on a new service. That's something you saw in the keynotes yesterday: Three years ago the average number of service bundles a customer would buy was a little bit over one. Last year, it was three. There's an explosion in the number of services that each customer of the hosting business consumes and we think it's going to continue growing.
We want to stay on the cutting edge and really continue to lead this by staying in touch with and serving our key hoster audience, even as we take on big operators and new players in the market.


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Celebrity trainer Holly Perkins says it’s time women stop buying into societal pressures. Whether it’s the need for the perfect body, the perfect face, or even the perfect relationship, these pressures simply crowd our minds and hearts and lead toward a dead end.
“There’s this perception that all women need to look like perfect runway models,” says Perkins, a leading national weight-loss expert. “They can feel the anxiety building when they are trying to meet someone else’s expectations. That’s when the effort to lose weight or get fit can add to the stresses of life instead of relieving them.”
Certainly, we as women should want to improve our health, get fit and look presentable, but must we add unneeded stress to the mix? Perkins, who recently released a home-exercise system designed specifically for women called baladea, has created regimens to fuse fitness and wellness exercises, without the stress.


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JANE LEVERE IN NEW YORK AND COLIN BAKER IN LONDON
The airline-owned travel sites are finally here. Orbitz, owned by five US carriers, has been up and running since June, while Opodo, owned by nine European airlines, is due to go online in December. Online agencies such as Expedia, Travelocity and e-bookers have enjoyed a relatively clear run over the last five years, but the airlines now aim to keep their growth in check. While it is still early days, with regulatory concerns still to be met, the new sites could swing the online balance of power towards the airlines. Yet fears remain that shareholder interest may wane in the face of the dot.com meltdown. With a similar site being launched by key Asian carriers, their success, or otherwise, will be keenly watched.
Orbitz fires up
Orbitz has got off to a promising enough start, even if it has not had everything its own way. The online travel agency set up by the five largest US airlines has met with strong opposition from low-cost champion Southwest Airlines as well as the attorneys general of 24 states. And while the venture received a temporary go-ahead from the Department of Transportation (DoT) in April, it still lacks formal approval from the Department of Justice (DoJ).
But in its first month of operation in June, the website sold over $60 million of travel services, including airline tickets, hotel rooms and car rentals. It also registered over 10 million visitors, says chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Katz.
These strong sales notwithstanding, Orbitz faces a number of challenges, including establishing a brand as it competes against well-entrenched rivals Travelocity, controlled by Sabre, and Expedia, established by Microsoft. If it is to attain profitability, as forecast, by 2003, it will have to deliver on its promise of superior customer service while keeping its cost structure down.
Orbitz owes its conception to American, United, Delta, Continental and Northwest Airlines, which jointly invested $145 million in its launch. The carriers view it as a low-cost alternative to Expedia and Travelocity, which, according to travel technology consultancy PhoCusWright, last year controlled 25% and 35%, respectively, of all on-line travel agency sales. According to Jupiter Media Metrix, of the total$245 billion US travel expenditure last year, some $13.9 billion was online.By 2006, online sales are forecast to account for $32 billion of a $303 billion total market.
According to Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Forrester Research, the carriers believe Orbitz will benefit them because it "provides a cheaper way to sell travel than the other agencies". Specifically, Orbitz offers distribution costs that are 30% below those charged by other online travel agencies. "A $300, three-segment airline ticket sold through an online travel agency costs an airline $10 in commissions and about $4 for each flight segment booked in the global distribution system (GDS). Orbitz says it will rebate 30% of the GDS segment fees and charge a flat transaction fee that will be less than the $10 commission," says Harteveldt.
To qualify for these lower distribution costs, travel suppliers must become "charter associates" in Orbitz and give it their web-only fares and any publicly-filed promotional rates they offer other online travel agencies. Additionally, these associates must each give Orbitz the equivalent of $2 million in annual promotional support.
Thus, unlike rivals Travelocity and Expedia, Orbitz has access to the special weekly Internet fares that airlines have traditionally sold only on their own sites. Attorneys general from 24 states formally voiced to the DoT and DoJ their concerns about this potentially anticompetitive aspect of the company's business model, but their complaint was dismissed by the DoT.
Fast new technology
To maintain its low-cost structure and provide travellers with the widest range of fares, Orbitz employs new technology that it claims is faster and more efficient than GDS mainframe technology, and that lets it display fare and flight options in one grid on one screen. Each Orbitz fare search produces between 150 and 350 flight and fare options offered by all carriers serving the market, compared to what it says are less than 40 options from fewer carriers offered by its competitors.
Besides these comprehensive fare listings, the company is trying to differentiate itself from other travel agencies by offering customer service initiatives inspired, in part, by the experience of Katz who was formerly chief executive of Swissair and who previous to that oversaw the GDS division of Sabre.
For example, the web site carries practical travel information like weather and airport data. It also sends travellers various notices before departure, and encourages them to rate trips after they are taken.
Although there was extensive testing of such features before launch, the company has experienced glitches in customer service delivery, something Harteveldt warns could harm the company if not quickly resolved. An example of these kinks was the initially serious problem Orbitz had in handling customer service calls. Noting that it was receiving five times the volume of calls originally anticipated, Katz decreed that call centre staff be increased from 100 to at least 250.
Not surprisingly, Orbitz' chief rivals are not taking its entry lying down, even if they believe that they will continue to dominate the electronic travel arena.
Travelocity head Terrell Jones points out the potential for all online travel companies is great, as "90% of the people who come to Travelocity do not buy from us, and 70% of that 90% do buy travel, from an off-line agency or from suppliers."
However, he further states that his firm's diversification will hold it in good stead. Travelocity, he says, offers travellers a wider range of services - like unique shopping tools - than Orbitz. Travelocity also has agreements with Yahoo and AOL that give it direct access to millions of potential travellers its rivals do not have.
Jones also says that Travelocity derives its revenues from more sources than Orbitz. For example, one-fourth of Travelocity's income is generated by advertising, with additional income coming from pacts with hotel consolidators and tour operators.
By contrast, Katz states that 70% of Orbitz sales so far have come from airline ticket sales, a number he predicts will remain constant. He says Orbitz will derive its income from commissions and similar fees paid by travel suppliers; limited advertising and sponsorship fees; and, ultimately, connection fees which it will receive from suppliers that by-pass the GDS and deal with Orbitz directly. He also says the company aims to account for between 20% and 30% of all US online travel agency sales by 2003 - a key ingredient in its becoming profitable.
Despite Travelocity's advantages, Jones is certain Orbitz will be successful. "This is a huge space; one-third of all US e-commerce in January was travel. I think there's room for more than two travel agencies online."
Richard Barton, chief executive at Expedia, is less sanguine about the prospects for Orbitz: "We're really focused on what the customers want, not what the owners want. We're totally focused on helping our customers make and take better trips, not just on buying airline tickets. We have a long-term, sustainable business model backing up our proposition; I don't think Orbitz does."
Beyond these competitive rivalries, the company faces numerous other challenges. "Orbitz is at a significant competitive disadvantage because it is late to the party," suggests Robert LaFleur, an analyst with Bear Stearns. "No one knows what an Orbitz is. To place that in the minds of customers is a monumental undertaking." The company will spend $100 million on sales and marketing in its first year.
For his part, Katz sees the major challenge as "making the economics of a dot.com company work". He adds: "Fortunately, our two biggest competitors have shown that in travel you can make money. If we do a good job for consumers, chances are good we'll get there, too."
Another unknown is the possibility of action by the US Government to either shut down Orbitz or make it change its business model. When the DoT announced its decision not to prevent the Orbitz launch, it also required the company to report on the implementation of its business model six months after start-up, and warned it would take action if Orbitz "conducts its operations in a way that violates antitrust laws or principles."
Meanwhile, the DoJ is continuing its ongoing investigation of Orbitz, while some of the consumer groups that had protested the Orbitz start-up to the DoJ are also monitoring it. Tam Ormiston, Iowa's deputy attorney general who participated in efforts by state attorneys general to modify Orbitz' business plan, declined to comment on what this group is now doing.
Also unclear is what impact, if any, a suit filed against Orbitz in May by Southwest in the US district court might have. Southwest claimed Orbitz was misrepresenting its schedules and fares without obtaining its permission; the airline subsequently removed the pricing and scheduling information Orbitz had used from the Airline Tariff Publishing Corp, which made it impossible for Orbitz to list any Southwest data.
Longer term, it is uncertain what kind of ongoing support Orbitz will receive from its original airline investor/owners. Harteveldt warns that if current economic conditions turn into a "substantial recession, I wonder if the airlines, their employees and boards will continue to fund Orbitz when they lack budgets for their own marketing and technology initiatives."
A further question is over whether Katz can raise the $100-150 million he says Orbitz needs to sustain growth and attain profitability. He says he will approach Orbitz' five owners as well as other travel companies and financial investors.
One observer, Niklas Andreen, a Stockholm-based vice president with Adcore Strategy, is sceptical that the fund-raising efforts will succeed, given the current state of the market for technology stocks, especially initial public offerings (IPO). "It's doubtful the airlines will put more money into Orbitz, because their original motivation was to make a quick buck from an IPO, and prospects for a potential IPO are looking more and more remote. If the founding shareholders aren't prepared to invest more, why should a hotel company? And venture capitalists have turned off the tap," he asks.
Source: Airline Business


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New air freight service connects China to Mexico City
AeromÃ©xico Cargo launched a route between Wuhan, China and Mexico City on Saturday, becoming the first scheduled service between mainland China and Latin America, according to a statement.
The twice-weekly service could handle up to 3,500 tonnes of cargo per year between Wuhan-Tianhe International Airport and Mexico City International Airport.
“The growth of electronic commerce, the transport of medical supplies and high-tech products [Wuhan] to the rest of the world has been exponential over the past year, reaching an increase of over 500%, âsaid Alejandro MÃ©ndez, senior vice president of AeromÃ©xico Cargo, in a statement.
The main products exported from China to Mexico include liquid crystal displays, telephones, computers and their parts, while the imported products include integrated circuits and copper ore.
Wuhan is located in central China and has a population of 9.8 million. The city is a manufacturing hub for industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, smartphones, and steel.
Click for more articles on FreightWaves by Noi Mahoney
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France is now allowing events to take place across the country, with an upper limit on attendance of 5,000 people.
Official government guidelines say that “strict health rules apply for shows, cinemas, casinos and so on. Nightclubs remain closed. Stadiums and racing tracks may reopen to the public from 11 July.”
All of the types of event listed above will be capped at 5,000 attendance. Contact sports are not currently allowed, but individual sports have been given the go ahead. Team sports must respect specific sanitary protocols.
Travel to France is also possible without any restriction from countries in the European Zone, although quarantine measures remain in force for travellers for the UK.
In light of the lifted restrictions, a smaller scale version of Lollapalooza Paris will be taking place on 19 July.
The event is being styled as a ‘picnic’, and will require visitors to stay in their designated areas, marked out using picnic blankets. The event is partnering with fashion house Balmain – which is providing the blankets – and champagne producer Veuve Clicquot.
Tickets for the event are on sale at the Balmain website. Proceeds will go to the Global Fund’s Covid-19 response, partnered with HIV/AIDS charity (RED).
Angelo Gopee, General Manager of Live Nation France, commented: “The confluence of Balmain and Lollapalooza was obvious. It will celebrate a certain French art of living in an exceptional summer setting.”


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Amazon said Thursday it was launching its Fire tablet in China, and had agreed to a partnership with Internet firm Baidu to provide search and applications for the device.
“With access to hundreds of thousands of Kindle books and with English language learning features like Word Wise, Fire is an easy and affordable option for customers who want to read or learn English,” the US online giant said in a statement.
Amazon added that Baidu would “provide a search, apps, and online video experience on Amazon tablets in China.”
The seven-inch screen tablet will sell for CNY 499, or under $80 (roughly Rs. 5,300).
“We’ve already sold millions of Fire tablets since launch, and we’re excited to now make it available to customers in China,” said Neil Lindsay, vice president for Amazon Devices.
“With millions of readers already using Kindle e-readers in China, we’re excited to now offer another incredibly affordable option, particularly for customers learning to read English.”
Amazon has not disclosed sales figures for its tablets but said this week that it sold “millions” following the launch of a new line of Fire tablets which included one priced at $50 (roughly Rs. 3,330).
The US retail giant is believed to have only a small share of the global tablet market led by Apple,Samsung and Chinese manufacturers.
Analysts say Amazon uses the devices to build brand loyalty and sell more e-books, video and music.


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Mired in losses (Condé Nast Publications lost $120 million in 2017 whilst Condé Nast International lost $50 million in its last reported figures for 2016), Condé Nast has experienced another ‘a
“Anger. Denial. Chaos.” is what one source recently told trade title WWD when describing the company over the last decade and its response to the digital wave that overtook it.
It’s no surprise then that the publisher is looking to make up ground and develop new revenue streams, whilst simultaneously leveraging the brand values that made the privately-owned company the most famous lifestyle magazine publisher in the world, renowned for its luxurious (and coveted) brands such as Condé Nast Traveller, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Tatler, et al.
The publisher (under its Condé Nast International umbrella) has this week unveiled its ‘Creative Studio Network’, unifying its eleven creative departments under a single worldwide brand identity that is “dedicated to servicing the needs of commercial partners around the world.”
Under the new umbrella, Condé Nast’s creative departments across countries including the UK, China, India, Japan
The publisher says the studios will fully align their operations “as full-scale creative service agencies.” According to Condé Nast, core offerings will include branded/native content solutions, event integration, talent consultancy, pure ‘white label’ content creation, bespoke research projects
In a marked departure from the long-standing ‘church/state’ boundary between editorial and commercial employees, many of Condé’s editorial staff (including journalists, designers, art directors
Jamie Jouning, Chief Revenue Officer at Condé Nast International comments, “We have established an unparalleled international network of creative talent, delivering best in class creative solutions to our clients across multiple brands and multiple platforms. Ultimately, we are streamlining and simplifying our core commercial service, providing consistency and clarity to our advertising partners.”
Condé Nast isn’t the first publisher to have spotted the potential in taking business away from traditional ad agencies in a clear bid to establish a new, lucrative revenue stream. Bloomberg Media has its own marketing and media consultancy whilst earlier this year, former Havas-exec, Dominique Delport, revealed to The Drum that he is competing for marketers’ ad budgets through the Virtue agency at Vice.
That’s not to say that publishers are immune to the internal creative divisions, feuds and politics that plague so many ad agency groups. In early November, Condé Nast unveiled CNX, the new name for their re-launched in-house branding agency, 23 Stories. Yet only this week, Business of Fashion reports that Dirk Standen, editor-in-chief of CNX, is leaving. The exit comes mere months after the agency’s former head, Josh Stinchcomb, left the publisher for Dow Jones.
Download WNIP’s new Media Moments 2018 report, which dives deeper into this year’s developments in publishing, and looks at what opportunities 2019 could usher in. The report is free and can be downloaded here.


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International Women’s Day is March 8. While America has made some wonderful advances as far as leveling the playing field between women and men, we still have a ways to go. We can do better. #BalanceforBetter
Women account for or influence a notable percentage of all buying decisions. While a larger number of entrepreneurs are men, statistics show that female entrepreneurs are growing faster than those of their male counterparts. The Economist predicts that by 2020, the private wealth held by women (globally) is expected to rise to $72 trillion. These statistics support the notion that women play a crucial role in keeping the economy going. Here are some interesting facts and statistics about women in business.
The Senate report on women entrepreneurs focuses on three particularly unique obstacles:
- Lack of role models and mentors
- Gender pay gap
- Unequal access to funding and venture capital
There are 9.1 million women-owned businesses nationwide, employing 7.9 million employees and generating $1.4 trillion in sales.1
According to the “Women-Owned Businesses Report,” approximately 11.6 million businesses in the U.S are women-owned. This number equals an increase of 114% over the past 20 years.
In 2017, women opened an average of 849 businesses per day.2
The top five industries that women start businesses in are health/beauty/fitness, general retail, business services, food/restaurant, and cleaning and maintenance.3
According to a 2016 BNP Global Entrepreneur Report, businesses run by women had 13% higher revenues than those run by men.
UC Davis research pointed to a situation in California, in which no women were among their highest-paid executives in the majority of businesses there. Furthermore, women hold just 12.3% of board seats and executive positions in California.
According to a “Women in the Workplace” study, more than one-third of women believe their gender has held them back from a promotion, while only 8% of men say the same thing.
In the US, a woman makes just 80.5 cents for every dollar that a man makes.4
According to a survey by Guidant Financial, 51% of female business owners were under the age of 50, compared to 44 % of men.
According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, across the nation, more women are attending college than men, and according to a CNBC article and research from the Institute of Family Studies, 2015 marked the first time in history that wives were better educated than their husbands.
13% of women-owned companies have been in business for more than 20 years.5
29% of female entrepreneurs say their company is growing moderately while 28% of men said their businesses are growing moderately.5
62% of women entrepreneurs rely on their business as their primary source of income. This challenges outdated assumption that women entrepreneurs are more likely to run lifestyle businesses that provide only supplemental income or as a hobby, as opposed to serving as a primary source of revenue.6
Only 25% of women seek financing for their business, compared to 34% of men who seek funding for their businesses.5 (Alternate: https://www.guidantfinancial.com/blog/5-alternatives-to-small-business-loans-for-women/)
Recent findings from a large pool of research including a follow up of the JPMorgan Chase Institute July 2018 report, “Growth, Vitality, and Cash Flows: High-Frequency Evidence from 1 Million Small Businesses” state that women entrepreneurs do not necessarily have better success in working with female mentors (as opposed to male mentors). Rather, that most successful entrepreneurs work with business mentors who are helpful, respectful and open-minded, and that they accurately assess an entrepreneur’s business situation and provide relevant advice.
The first year median revenue for women-owned small businesses was $50,000 compared to more than $75,000 for their male counterpart. In the second year, the growth in revenue goes up to $59K for women and $91K for men.5
Year three and four also favor men owned-businesses as they generated $100K and $105K respectively compared to $65K and $68K for women during the same period.5
Female-led companies tend to experience fewer layoffs, and a study from the Ketchum Leadership Communication Monitor revealed that women are more likely to lead by example and handle crisis calmly.
Women of color own 78% of new women-owned businesses.7
1 www.nawbo.org, accessed March 1, 2019
2 https://amex.co/2IJc20k (pdf)
3 http://bit.ly/2UfJD3n (Infographic)
6 http://bit.ly/2GS0lTj (pdf)
7 American Express OPEN, “The 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report,” (April 2016) (online at http://about.americanexpress. com/news/docs/2016x/2016SWOB.pdf


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Czech auto maker Škoda is expanding its activities in Israel, partnering with local startups for new technologies, some of which are already in the testing stage, the company announced in a press statement.
Škoda indicated it had teamed up with Israeli startups Chakratec, a developer of electric vehicle (EV) charging technology; Anagog, the developer of JedAI, the first on-handset AI engine that converts sensor data in real-time and predicts mobility status and location information, and in which Škoda is invested; and UVeye, which builds automatic vehicle inspection systems using computer vision and machine learning.
“With our increased engagement in Israel, we are getting a good starting position for access to future technologies. We find [in Israel] technologies with a high degree of maturity, which we test through strategic partnerships. That way, we implement the best and most innovative mobility solutions, providing a real value to our customers,” said Andre Wehner, Chief Digital Officer at Škoda.
Škoda established the Škoda Auto DigiLab Israel LTD in Tel Aviv last year to scout for local technologies.
Later this week, the company will be launching the Škoda SCALA, a new compact car, at an event in Tel Aviv “to mark the importance Israel has for future technologies within the brand,” the company said.


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How AI Technology Helped These Startups in Asia Pacific Get Ahead In Their Industries
AI is really no longer an intimidating technology
Only ten years ago, most people thought of artificial intelligence as a technology made for the futuristic world— of flying cars and having robots as friends a la The Jetsons. But in 2019, AI is really no longer an intimidating technology. Most don't realize that some of the apps and services they regularly use today employ AI to deliver their functionality. And why not? With AI, one can have millions of data analyzed in seconds to streamline processes that were once handled by multiple employees. According to Juniper Research, retailers are expected to spend $12 billion on AI services by 2023, more than triple the amount the industry spent in 2019, at $3.6 billion.
Most of these companies use "deep learning", a category of AI technology which leverages supercomputers to mimic or pattern its functions to that of the human brain. Doing so helps it to analyze and process data in a smarter way. Thinking of it in this light: if computers could only answer arithmetic questions before, today they can handle calculus problems in a few seconds.
Below are some of the prime examples of how some apps and services became trailblazers in their respective industries, thanks partly to their use of AI:
One industry that has thrived on its smart use of "machine learning" is the ride-hailing platform Grab. Its backend AI technology has enabled it to tweak and develop a more reliable platform for drivers and passengers. Thanks to the vast amount of GPS trails the platform have collected, the company has developed a more accurate map on the app for drivers and users, giving them better estimates on travel time and routes. In the future, Grab is also looking into developing a new feature that will enable the platform to turn photos sent by users into accurate addresses, helping drivers to locate passengers even better.
Again, it's a technology that benefits all parties on the platform — passengers can get home faster, while drivers can earn more from completing more trip requests.
From these examples, it's already apparent that if there's one business task AI has already started to revolutionize, it's customer service. And in the Philippines, a startup took a step further into a future where computer and human interaction is more deeply integrated.
Two-year-old Chatbot PH offers businesses a way to efficiently respond to customer queries online through chatbots and AI-driven messaging.
Instead of having a social media manager personally answer every customer concern online, Chatbot PH's "conversational bots" can do the dirty work instead for businesses, thanks to the startup's programming magic. The startup creates the ideal customer service agent for a certain company, one who can efficiently respond to their customers' most common inquiries.
It does this with machine learning—as the chatbot deals with more customers, it becomes a better responder, delivering increasingly more informed answers. It's especially helpful for those in consumer industries, like food and beverage and telecommunications, which deal with customers on a daily basis.
The startup has the promise to become the next main industry partner of businesses everywhere. Clearly aware of this potential, paper manufacturer Sterling Group of Companies bought the startup for an undisclosed amount, just 18 months after it launched.
While some have feared the new tech would leave thousands without jobs, experts say it's a good opportunity for the call center industry, especially in the Philippines, to upskill its talents so they can be better equipped to the demands of businesses in the near future.
While fairly new in the insurance industry, insurtech Saphron is also pioneering a new AI-enabled tech with its platform NAN.AI. A wordplay on the Filipino term for mother, "nanay" and AI, the platform enables its microinsurance agents, most of whom are moms, to enroll clients, monitor policies, and initiate claims at a much quicker pace than paper-based transactions. Through deep technology, the company is able to develop a platform that will let agents track his or her business anytime.
CEO Lorenzo Chan said the new tech can cut as much as two to three months' worth of waiting spent by clients, as insurance agents no longer need to spend hours encoding documents.
It's a revolutionary platform for the industry, one that could not only help bridge the gap between insurance and the unbanked, but may also change the way traditional companies do business. With its immense potential, it's no surprise the company had already completed a $1million seed funding round this past March, a few months after it was launched.
In this extremely competitive environment, where businesses are not only battling against peers but the tide of new technology as well, job-matching has become a critical process for human resource departments so enterprises are equipped with the right talents to thrive.
Job marketplace Kalibrr acknowledged this pressing need in 2016 when it launched its AI-powered recommendations tool. The company says the feature runs on two algorithms: relationship matching, where the program creates better search results based on the user's interactions in the platform; and content matching, where the results are based on the descriptions of each job posting.
It's a sophisticated tool that aims to bridge the usual problems faced by human resource teams and talents - another showcase of AI's power to ease industry pain points.
AI's Imminent Impact
The fact that it's no longer just industry giants utilizing AI to provide customer solutions proves the technology is now fully democratized. It's no longer a tech exclusive to companies with big budgets, nor is it employed for more advanced processes. It's now become an everyday part of most people's lives, albeit in many cases unknowingly. These companies' efforts just show that AI is bound to create a lasting impact in transforming industries. It's only a matter of time before other legacy industries feel the need to use it, too.
The author is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in the story, in any capacity.


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Mercedes-Benz India will launch the Celebration Edition of the C Class on November 12th. As regular readers may be aware, global sales of the Mercedes-Benz C Class hit the 10 million mark in August this year. To celebrate this milestone, a C Class Edition C was launched, and we believe the same Edition C will be launched in India next week.
Feature wise, the Edition C wears an AMG body kit with bumper spoilers and side skirts, and larger AMG wheels. In Germany, the Edition C costs an additional EUR 1,785 (INR 1.5 lakhs) and we expect this price increase to be carried over in India as well. The Edition C would be available on the C220 CDI model only.
Though the 'C Class' nameplate was introduced only in 1993, the previous generation model was known as the Mercedes 190. The first generation C Class (W202) was launched in 1993, followed by the second generation W203 model in 2000. The current generation W204 model which was introduced in 2007 is nearing the end of its lifecycle and images of the next generation 2015 C Class have already found their way on the internet. We expect the 2015 C Class to have its world premiere at the Detroit Motor Show in January next year.
Out of the 10 million C Classes sold since 1993, the W204 model has contributed about 2.3 million units.


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NEW YORK – WEBWIRE – Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Forbes unveils its 12th annual Under 30 List for the Class of 2023, recognizing 600 trailblazing innovators across North America, within 20 different categories, who have turned to entrepreneurship to solve the worlds most complex challenges from global warming to reproductive health.
The 2023 Under 30 Class is Forbes is one of the most diverse to date, with nearly half of listers self-identifying as people of color, said Kristin Stoller, Editor, Forbes Under 30. More than one-fifth of listers also identify as immigrants, hailing from 46 countries including Afghanistan, Cameroon, China, Ecuador, India, Kenya, South Korea, and Uganda. This years list also boasts the highest contingent of Gen Z in Forbes history, with 22% of listers aged 25 or younger.
Unconventional thinking is at the heart of Forbes Under 30 list, and amidst war, market crashes, and layoffs, tomorrows brightest minds continue to forge new paths forward, said Steven Bertoni, Assistant Managing Editor at Forbes. Many of the honorees on this years list derived these innovated business models during the Covid-19 lock down are reimagining the ways we consume media, approach reproductive health, fight global warming, and play games, and so much more.
Collectively, the Class of 2023 has raised over $5.3 billion in venture funding, nearly 5 times more than the collective $1 billion raised in 2022.
Forbes Under 30 Class of 2023 features honorees in 20 different categories, including: art and style, media, entertainment, social media, science, sports, healthcare, energy, enterprise tech, consumer tech, music, finance, food and drink, social impact, manufacturing and industry, venture capital, marketing and advertising, retail and e-commerce, games, and education. To compile the list, Forbes collaborated with an expert panel of judges, including Joe Jonas, singer, songwriter, and actor; Aimee Song, designer and fashion blogger; Bobbi Brown, makeup artist, author, and founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics; and Sid Sijbrandij, co-founder and CEO of business software firm GitLab.
Notable highlights on this years list include Dina Radenkovic, who has raised $40 million and counting to make egg harvesting cheaper and safer through her startup, Gameto; Ayo Edebiri, fresh off the success of her recent comedy-drama series The Bear that won praise from fans and critics; Social Impact lister Noah McQueen, whose company Heirloom has raised $53 million to fight global warming; and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who will begin a four-year, $196 million contract extension next year with the team that he negotiated himself.
ON THE COVER:
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion, whose number one hits include Savage and her feature on Cardi Bs WAP, one of the biggest and most talked-about singles of 2020. Her first studio album, Good News, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 charts.
Hailey Bieber, who jumped from model to mogul when she created Los Angeles-based skincare startup Rhode Skin.
In addition to Megan Thee Stallion and Bieber, two additional covers will be unveiled later this week.
The Under 30 list is a 365-day global platform, elevated by live summits in the U.S., Asia, Europe and the Middle East, a robust community on social, and supported by major brand marketers who tap into its power to fuel their own businesses. The Under 30 platform and community continues to expand globally to reflect the young disruptors from around the world who have rewritten rules, reshaped industries, and are breaking ground towards a brighter future. Details around Forbes 2023 global Under 30 events will be announced soon.
For the full list of Forbes Under 30 Class of 2023, visit: Forbes 2023 Under 30 Class
To join the conversation on social, follow #ForbesUnder30
Forbes champions success by celebrating those who have made it, and those who aspire to make it. Forbes convenes and curates the most influential leaders and entrepreneurs who are driving change, transforming business and making a significant impact on the world. The Forbes brand today reaches more than 140 million people worldwide through its trusted journalism, signature LIVE and Forbes Virtual events, custom marketing programs and 48 licensed local editions in 82 countries. Forbes Medias brand extensions include real estate, education and financial services license agreements.
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Hollywood never knew, in planning the release of "Monsters, Inc." and "Harry Potter," how valuable the movies' message of overcoming fear and appreciating life's magic would be to adults in the audience.
Since Sept. 11, America has been seized by a fear of monsters under the bed. We've pulled the covers up to our noses and lay frozen in the grip of a lingering mass phobia.
As young children, the monster was the uncertainty of the future: What will tomorrow and the day after bring? Will I be intelligent enough to deal with it? What will I become, and what will become of me?
As adults, the fear is much the same, but it's taken on a green hue: Will the economy get worse? Will I be able to pay my bills? What will become of my job and my family?
Nothing under the bed
How do we shake this fright? "As every parent knows, the best way is to just shine a flashlight under the bed to show there's no monster there," said Dick Wagner, a principal of WorthLiving, a Denver-based money-management firm.
The holiday season now upon us will provide just such illumination. Enter a movie like "Harry Potter," in which a forlorn boy discovers he is a star-crossed wizard, and you multiply the magic needed to rid us of our fear.
There are good omens out there, but they revolve around the very thing -- money -- that we'd rather not think about right now. Consider:
- U.S. Commerce Department statisticians discovered an astonishing fact last month -- the economy shrunk just 0.4 percent in the third quarter and might have grown slightly if not for Sept. 11. Despite the financial media's yearlong fear mongering, we had yet to slip into recession. American consumers, further refusing to succumb, sent retail sales up a startling 7 percent in October.
- In Detroit, Ford executives extended a 0-percent financing offer beyond its Oct. 31 deadline after realizing record sales. Industry analysts said the automaker was cannibalizing future sales, but consumer response drove home a critical point -- unlike the Japanese, Americans will not ignore a bargain and go gently into that long night.
- U.S. health care costs will rise a projected 14 percent in 2002, the highest jump in a decade. That's certainly reason to quake in our boots. Yet babies born three months premature, adults needing organ transplants and millions of heart patients requiring surgery will live on, because of our determination that an admittedly tenuous system should provide care for all.
- In supermarkets nationwide this week, countless consumers will take home a 12-pound turkey, several pounds of potatoes and yams, green beans, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce, all for under $15. And there we have the starting point for putting our fear behind us, gathering for the distinctly American holiday of just giving thanks.
"Fear thrives in isolation," says Susan Bross, a financial counselor in Mill Valley, California. "The more people connect through a sense of community, the more they overcome it."
Coming to town
And soon enough, we'll see the return of the Jolly Man. I sat in for him once in a mall -- it is magical how a wave of his hand sparks a beaming smile on a passing shopper's face. Unfortunately, Santa is denominational, but the spirit he engenders will do us all good.
Forget the media reports certain to come about the "grim" pace of holiday sales -- there is nothing grim about Christmas, and there is no Grinch under the bed. He is in fact one of us, waiting to be freed of a life suspended by fear, as we are.
"Being with friends and family, and sharing traditions like Thanksgiving and Christmas, will help us realize not everything in the world has gone wrong," said Ginita Wall, a San Diego-based accountant and financial planner.
And let's not forget what this New Years may mean. Many of us will celebrate the end of 2001 with more rousing cheer than resounded upon 2000's arrival. And that's not a bad thing: We will again be looking forward to the future, rather than fearing its uncertainty.


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Brad Brooks, the Corporate Vice President of Consumer Marketing for Windows, has jumped to Juniper Networks.
Juniper announced on January 19 that Brooks will be the Juniper Vice President of Worldwide Enterprise Marketing and Solutions.Kevin Johnson, the former head of Microsoft's Platforms and Services business, quit Microsoft in 2008 and became the Juniper CEO. After Johnson's departure, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer split Platforms and Services into two, creating the Windows/Windows Live and Online Systems Divisions.
Brooks joined Microsoft in 2002, to work on the initial business development and marketing of Windows XP Media Center Edition.
I've asked Microsoft about its replacement plans for Brooks. No word back so far. Microsoft officials declined to comment as to what the company plans to do next, in terms of a replacement.
Microsoft is continuing to push Windows 7 as the company works on developing the next version of Windows, known as Windows 8.
Microsoft officials have not been willing to talk about the planned Windows 8 delivery date, but have said the next version of Windows will be out 24 to 36 months after Windows 7 -- which could mean anywhere from this year to 2012, depending on how Microsoft is calculating. (This year, however, the most that us company watchers are expecting is a beta of Windows 8.)
Microsoft officials have said the next Windows will run on x86, as well as systems-on-a-chip architectures from ARM, Intel and AMD, making the operating system able to run on smaller devices using less power.
Update: Reader Romit Mehta reminded me that Microsoft Group Product Manager for Web Platform, Lauren Cooney, also recently jumped to Juniper Networks. She is now Director of Developer Evangelism there.
Update No. 2 (January 21): President of Microsoft Asia Pacific Emilio Umeoka also is going to Juniper, where he will become worldwide channel chief, CRN reported.


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The Ambassador of the United States of America (US) to Brunei Darussalam, H. E. Craig Allen, on August 20 hosted a luncheon at his residence for representatives of more than two dozen US or US-linked companies doing business in Brunei Darussalam.
Craig Allen spoke to the private sector representatives about the potential implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement on the robust Brunei-US trade relationship.
Attended by numerous members of Brunei’s business community, the event provided an opportunity for the ambassador to discuss TPP with individuals in Brunei who, like all business-owners in Brunei, may be able to benefit significantly from the increased opportunities for trade that the agreement will bring.
During the event, H. E. Craig Allen said, “I have 30 years of experience at the US Department of Commerce working on trade and trade policy issues, largely in Asia. I am happy to say that TPP is the biggest new development in the global trade policy world for many, many years. Once implemented and over the long term, I believe that TPP will help Brunei to realise His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s vision of a stronger and more diversified economy, with greater international investment.”
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was begun by Brunei, New Zealand, Chile and Singapore, is a high-standard, comprehensive, and ambitious agreement that would set new rules for trade in the Asia-Pacific region.
Its passage will pave the way for increased trade and investment that will drive job creation, economic growth, and development in Brunei and the United States and throughout the region.


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Baseball's China Push Grows With MLB-Le Sports Streaming Dealby and
Initiative could spur first MLB regular-season games in China
Le Sports says baseball appeals to the emerging middle class
Major League Baseball signed its first national media partnership in China, a three-year deal that gives billionaire Jack Ma-backed Le Sports exclusive rights to live-stream games in the world’s most populous country.
The deal fuses two of baseball’s top priorities under first-year commissioner Rob Manfred -- cultivating new markets and delivering games digitally. It may also pave the way for China to host regular-season MLB games for the first time. "This will be the first generation of what baseball in Mandarin looks like and feels like," said Chris Park, head of baseball’s international business.
The partnership gives LeTV Sports Culture Develop (Beijing) Co. exclusive rights in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau to broadcast about 125 games per year, including the entire World Series. Le Sports, which has 14 million unique visitors per day, or about 3 percent of China’s online video users, will also hold the rights to rebroadcast those games through video on demand.
As of now, baseball’s Chinese fan base is small. The General Administration of Sport of China last month proposed a 10-year planto develop baseball into a 50 billion yuan ($7.67 billion) industry with more than 20 million viewers in the country by 2025. It’s a modest goal for a country of 1.4 billion, where an estimated 300 million people have already embraced basketball.
But then, the NBA had been actively courting its Chinese fans for 10 years before Yao Ming was the top pick in the 2002 NBA draft and the game’s popularity exploded. Baseball, on the other hand, was considered a symbol of Western indulgence and banned until Mao Zedong’s death in 1976. The MLB opened an office in Beijing in 2007 and has been running development centers in China since 2009. The Baltimore Orioles in July made 19-year-old prospect Xu Guiyuan the first MLB player to come through that training system.
“Growing the game isn’t as simple as turning a fire hose on and making games available," said Park, MLB’s Senior Vice President of Growth, Strategy & International. "It’s about promoting our game and packaging our players and teams in a favorable light, but also about presenting them in a way that is the most culturally relevant."
Le Sports is familiar with MLB’s China-specific brand and has worked with baseball on a number of offline initiatives, including managing fan festival events and university leagues. As part of the new partnership, Le Sports will continue to co-produce MLB Perfect Pitch, a baseball reality show, and work with baseball on events and marketing.
Le Sports also has a novel way to sell baseball paraphernalia. Vice President of Strategy Yu Hang said that during games, a column on the right of the screen could provide options for fans to purchase hats of the teams on the field, or the jersey of the pitcher on the mound.
"This may be the first time in China that we integrate e-commerce elements while live-streaming sports," Yu said in a telephone interview. Both Park and Yu declined to provide terms of the partnership.
Funded by the son of China’s richest man, real estate billionaire Wang Jianlin, Le Sports is a subsidiary of Le Holdings (Beijing) Co. Minority owners also include Yunfeng Capital, a venture capital firm backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s billionaire co-founder Ma. The company recently raised $122 million in a Series A round that brought its valuation to $430 million. A second round of financing is under way with a goal of reaching a $3 billion valuation.
There is high demand for streaming content in China, similar to the U.S. broadcast market, where live sports of almost any nature are a hot commodity. In China Le Sports competes primarily with Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd., offering its content for free over the Internet and across devices like smartphones and smart TVs. This deal will run alongside MLB’s regional television contracts in China.
In addition to MLB, recent Le Sports rights acquisitions include Wimbledon, English Premier League soccer, and Pac-12 athletics. Those deals are part of a broader focus on China’s emerging middle class, a group of young parents that are well educated, city-based and beginning to incorporate sports into their lifestyle.
“That is the most important target audience for Le Sports,” Yu said. “They treat themselves well, some have lived abroad in the U.S., and they have purchasing power. They have the capability to spend on things like Major League Baseball.”


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Witricity, the wireless charging company, has raised £29 million in venture capital funding to help with the commercial rollout of its technology.
The company said it is already working with "virtually all of the world's automakers" on integrating wireless charging compatibility with electric vehicles (EVs) and wants to create a system that will be compatible with all EVs, regardless of the brand.
Stage 1 Ventures led the latest investment round with participation from Air Waves Wireless Electricity and a strategic investment by Mitsubishi Corporation through its U.S. subsidiary, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).
Witricity charging happens automatically once a vehicle is parked without any human intervention—making EV charging hands-free and “easier than refueling”.
The company thinks wireless charging will be particularly important for when self-driving vehicles are introduced in the future, as vehicles will be able to park and charge themselves with no human intervention.
Witricity said its technology can be used to charge compatible EVs “without sacrificing energy efficiency or speed compared to conventional plug-in chargers”.
Alex Gruzen, Witricity chief executive, said: “The mobility industry is at a remarkable inflection point.
“As automakers increasingly prioritize electrification, the industry seeks to improve the EV ownership experience.
“Our wireless charging shifts the act of charging to the background—just park and it charges.”
Mitsumasa Icho, executive vice president, group chief executive, urban development group, Mitsubishi Corporation, believes wireless charging is essential for realising next-generation urban city and infrastructure services that capture the shift to EV and autonomous driving.
David Baum, managing director, Stage 1 Ventures, said: “Wireless charging capabilities for electrified vehicles ranging in size—from scooters to cars to buses and trucks—enables vehicles that are not only better for the environment and convenient for users, but opens up the door for true autonomy and shared mobility.”


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This has never happened before and here it is again.
It is worth noting that the announced increase is far from the first. So, at the end of last year, the Taiwanese Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) notified its customers about a price increase of 10-20%. Price tags have gone up on CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, and controllers.
TSMC increased the cost of processing wafers using the 7nm process and beyond by about 10%. The price of working on wafers using the 16-nm process technology has also increased – and not by 10%, but by 20% at once. The increase began in December 2021.
All this brought tangible profits to the manufacturer, since, according to open sources, TSMC’s 5nm and 7nm processes brought 49% of the company’s revenue of $ 13.29 billion in the second quarter of this year. This is approximately $600 million in additional revenue in the first quarter of 2022.
, the component and process price hikes announced last year would boost the company’s revenue by more than $1 billion. But there seems to be only one beneficiary here, and that’s TSMC itself. For everyone else, this means an increase in the cost of production of various devices and, most likely, a drop in the profits of manufacturers of these devices.
Despite this, order volumes for chips are growing, so much so that in some cases the lead time for these orders has increased to 17 weeks. The company’s customers, and these are the largest corporations in the world, literally stand in line, looking forward to the completion of their orders.
In addition to TSMC, other manufacturers decided to raise prices, including GlobalFoundries, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC), Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), United Microelectronics (UMC). First of all, this affected the growth in prices for signal processing chips (growth by 10-20%) and power controllers (10-30%).
Representatives of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) officially notified customers about the price increase for various components by 5-9% by 2023. The increase affects almost all of the company’s products. Like last time, TSMC will receive an additional income – it will increase by about a third. CAGR will increase from 15-20% to 35%.
As far as it was possible to judge in the spring of 2022, the deficit for components began to gradually decrease, in particular, due to the geopolitical situation. But, as it turned out, the downward trend concerned consumer electronics. But the corporate sector continues to increase momentum. We are talking about deploying a 5G infrastructure, increasing the number of data centers, and growing demand for high-performance equipment.
TSMC is trying to bring additional production capacity into operation, which requires funds. About $40-70 billion has already been invested, and the company is trying to cover its own costs – of course, not at its own expense.
According to Nikkei Asian Review, the company’s customers did not even immediately believe in the upcoming price increase. Many considered this disinformation, after rumors about the increased price tag spread. But this was followed by an official statement that took a number of corporations by surprise, because this is the second price increase in a year.
Vendors believed that as the demand for smartphones, TVs and PCs began to decline, TSMC’s services for the production of components for these systems would gradually become cheaper. But no, the company did the opposite. And this despite the fact that previously TSMC raised prices only in case of emergency, and in many cases, the Taiwanese manufacturer also offered discounts to large customers as production expanded using one or another lithographic technology.
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How will TSMC use the windfall?
As mentioned above, to expand production capacity, as well as the development of new technologies. So, the company announced back in April that it was going to release the first 2-nm chips by 2026. Test elements are planned to be produced around the end of 2024, with large-scale production starting a year later. This means that the first chips of the new type will be available to customers in 2026.
The release of chips is not a fast business, since the cycle time for manufacturing processes is very long. So it will take a lot of time to establish serial production of 2nm chips.
To begin with, TSMC plans to build a factory that will be tailored for the production of 2nm components – it will be built near Baoshan, Hsinchu County, Taiwan. The factory project was approved back in 2021. $44 billion has been allocated for its construction, and the distribution of funds will be carried out in four stages. First, the factory building will be built, around the middle of 2023, and then the equipment will be installed and launched, already somewhere by the middle of 2024.
By the way, the company is building new facilities in the US, but recently the founder of TSMC criticized own company’s plans, stating that chips made in America will be about 50% more expensive than similar items that are made in Taiwan itself. He also added that U.S. chip production is unlikely to become self-sustaining, making it harder for local manufacturers.
Be that as it may, the problems of the semiconductor industry are clearly not over, more and more negative factors are constantly appearing. Of course, we would like to hope that the forecasts of experts will come true and most of the problems will come to naught or weaken by the end of 2022. But, this is in an ideal situation, and the reality is now somewhat different.


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OTTAWA—Police moved in on protesters here Friday, towing heavy-duty trucks and making dozens of arrests as they began clearing a 22-day demonstration against Covid-19 vaccine mandates that has paralyzed the capital’s downtown and inspired blockades of crucial U.S.-Canada border crossings.
Interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell said Friday afternoon that officers were in control of the situation on the ground, and “will continue to push forward to clear our streets.”
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ROME (dpa-AFX) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCAU) announced that FCA US LLC is voluntarily recalling an estimated 153,859 minivans in the U.S. to update certain software.
The company said the problem involves software in control modules that, 'under a rare set of conditions,' could shut down the engine.
Fiat Chrysler said is aware of a single potentially related accident. FCA US is unaware of any potentially related injuries.
'Most were singular events that occurred over thousands of miles of travel, and customers were able to restart their vehicles immediately afterward,' it said in a statement.
The recall affects 2017 model year Pacifica minivans, including 153,859 vehicles sold in the U.S., the company said. It doesn't affect hybrid versions of the Pacifica, which are powered by gas-electric engines, Fiat Chrysler said.
Customers will be advised when they may schedule service to install updated engine control software, which will be available - free of charge - from certified FCA US dealers. The Company urges customers to heed the instructions on all recall notices.
Customers with questions may call the FCA US Customer Care Center at 1-800-853-1403.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX


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Kansas City, Mo – Made in KC recently announced it’s opening its 11th retail location in Red Bridge Shopping Center. The Kansas City favorite, a premier destination for local goods, gifts, and apparel will occupy roughly 1,000-square-feet with hopes to open by September 2022.
Since 2015, Made in KC has been dedicated to promoting the makers and does that make Kansas City so special. Beginning as a 300-square-foot pop-up shop in Prairiefire, the local concept has now grown to work with hundreds of local creators. Made in KC, a 2022 Champions of Business honoree, now has 35 full-time-equivalent and 150 total employees.
LANE4 Vice President Brandon Buckley said in the release that Made in KC is a “perfect fit” for Red Bridge, where about 80% of tenants are locally owned businesses. This center is owned and managed by LANE4, who began a massive redevelopment in 2016 to transform the once neglected neighborhood center.
Read the full article from Kansas City Business Journal here.